Unix Systems Books

An older book at a nice price, but still contains all the basice info for working with the Apache web server.

This is the first Apache book i have read, based on the strength of reviews and reccomendations on Amazon.

In short, this book currently has me irritated and disappointed.

In terms of structure, the sections and subsections are not clearly introduced or delimited and even the section headings are often 100% meaningless. Also it is sometimes unclear whether you are being given a sequence of instructions to use or just a list of commands for reference.

Generally the English used in this book contains some apallingly bad, complex and ambigous syntax which is quite unneccesary. The problem with ambiguous syntax is that you often have to already know what the writer is talking about in order to be able to figure the correct interpretation for what he writes.

Also, the "for dummies" style of writing is applied as annoyingly as ever. That is to say that the stuff you read is interrupted without warning (mid-sentence) by a string of gibberish that is supposed to be friendly and humorous. It is not humorous, it is very annoying and yet another unnceccesary source of confusion.

I really hope there are better books out there by now.

Assumes, and rightly so, that the reader is a newbie ... but doesn't cover enough information. Also, far too much assumption about the user being a Windows user when most Apache distributions are run on *nix boxes.

This book is a good book for exactly that, beginners, and even if you downloaded the apache software and read some of the on-line docs, you might be missing out on some things that you never even knew about, this is because it's hard to find a source on the internet that explains everything about a subject you want to read about in one concentracted place, instead it's spread all-over...

So even if you have some experiance, I would recommend this book and then get a better one later, more advanced.

Raymond....

Apache web server comes with MacOSX (I have the beta of course) that lets your system act as a server, with TelNet and FTP functionality. OSX is not an update to MacOS9. OSX is a new OS from the ground up, with a BSD Unix kernal, protected memory, preemptive multi-tasking, and full emplimentations of Java 2 and TCP/IP. Also, there is a program called NetProbe that had Ping functions as well as other functions. Mac is not dead!

I have read this book cover to cover. I am trained in computers and have been working with Linux now for over a year, and Windows six years. This book is good reading for people interested in computers regardless of you level of expertise in computers. I covers one of the most popular flavors of Linux.

This is a great book whether you've are an intermediate Linux user or a true novice. I had used Linux on and off but not really dove in to it like I had with MS Windows. After purchasing this book though I have completly migrated off of Windows and now use SUSE Linux full time. The book is great at using examples to help certain things stay in your head. I also like the way this book starts off teaching the Linux GUI (X) and then moves on to the command-line, most Linux books I've read are the complete opposite. Once you learn the GUI you move on to command-line which helps you stay focused on the book since the command line can get fustrating when first learning to use it. Great book, highly recommended.

I tried this book and it was great until i started downloading files, I kept getting error codes. I'm thinking I did not have a file that i needed. I also read the chapter about playing dvd movies and online video not very helpful.every time you download something that some one mentions either on the web or in a not very well written book like this, there is either another file that you need or a conflict that has to be fixed.

I am a computer nerd, and I've been using Suse for roughly a year now, so you would think this book would be beneath me. However, it is an entertaining read.

I gives a great overview of Linux, and all of the great stuff it can do.

You can't expect a book to help you troubleshoot every piece of hardware you have. If you read the first few chapters you will find that most serious hardware troubleshooting will require some help from the linux community or at the very least some research online.

I just installed Suse Linux 9.3. This book did provide some assistance and is worth having but not at the fourty dollars that I paid for it. The author needs to quit bashing Microsoft and try to sell his OS by its merits not by tearing down others. That said Linux has a whole series of problems of its own. Reading his book did not help me when during installation the mouse was not detected, my modem was detected by did not work, my scanner was not detected. After installation the screen flickered and went dark. I had to restart the computer. Linux has a lot of problems which this author glosses over in his obsession of criticizing Microsoft. I would recommend anyone interested in this book to sign it out from the library or borrow it from a friend and try to use it to install Linux. I challenge you to see if it really provides you all the help you are going to need.

This book is very good on each topic, it covers many details about configuration and day to day use of a solaris 9 machine. The CD is also very helpful, because you can test yourself and discover your weak knowledge areas, so you could study them again.
Try it!!

Update on my review (04/06/06)
I completed my last exam today and passed it. I found the second part (310-015) more challenging than the first one. You have to know a lot of stuff in order to pass. I used this book with the sybex study guide and I passed both exams with the following scores: 310-014 85% and 310-015 75%. I do recommend this book but use it in as supplement to another study guide.

Previous review (02/22/06)
This book is pretty good for the exam. It goes straight to the essentials. I used it as supplement to the Sybex study guide and it worked out well. The book is concise and full of practice exam questions and explanation.
Overall I recommend it for the exam but don't use it as the only source for your exam.

This is good book, definitely better then average for 310-014, and barely adequate (or even less then adequate) for 310-015. So four stars is for the 310-014. It should be three stars for 310-015.

Actually the test for 310-015 on the book's CD-ROM (PrepLogic Practice Tests) is better then the material in the book.

The author put a lot of efforts distilling and preparing the necessary for the exam 310-014 material but it looks like he became tired after the first part and the second part is much weaker then the first.

This is generally a regular "cram" book: a very short/condensed material, so you can easily keep the focus on exam, the goal that is somewhat different from learning Solaris ;-). It provides you with the summaries of the topics used on the exams. This book doesn't teach you much about Solaris basics and is not intended to. Most chapters require reading Sun material to master the topic to be able to pass, unless you use those software component in your daily work. The recommendations after each chapter about additional reading should be taken seriously, especially for SA_015.

The questions after each chapter are very helpful and test exams (actually two for each part of the test: one in printed form and another on CD-ROM) are probably the most valuable part of the book.

Still in no way it should be your first or only book for the exam preparation. As one Amazon reviewer correctly observed you should get Sun student study guides, if you plan to use this book (review was slightly unfair to the book, IMHO). If you cannot get Sun student study guides for each part then you need to download and read Sun's free eBooks, for example System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration for SA-015. You do need to use other sources for the most difficult topics (like NFS, RBAC, NIS, Jumpstart for the second part of the exam.)

It is very important to do all quizzes after each chapter. The best way to assess your skills is via Sun practice exam, not via book provided exam. You do need to buy a practice exam if you are unsure about you chances to pass. Still an educated guess is that if you can get above 90% on each the book's exams on the first try, you have reasonable chances to pass.

On the negative site the content of the most chapters can be easily improved. Often it is too superficial even taking into limitations of the "cram" style. I would like to stress it again that, for the second exam the book is barely adequate and cannot even be called good. For example long tables in the RBAC section of the ACL+RBAC chapter is a testimony that the author did not know the material well enough himself to present in it a meaningful condensed fashion. That's a blunder no matter how you view it.

Still the quiz after the ACL+RBAC chapter is reasonably good, so not everything is bad even in weak chapters (and they are in majority for the second part of the exam).

Please not the especially bad are chapters for the most difficult topics like NFS, NIS and Jumpstart: all of them are are missing important topics covered in the exam (for example the NFS chapter completely misses troubleshooting). RAID chapter is close to junk contains some extra material on types of RAID not covered by exam (only RAID 0, 1 and 5 are covered) but does not cover SVM well enough.

Like many other reviewers noted the exam goes into details of LDAP that the book didn't cover.

Therefore you probably will be better off creating your own summaries for major topics. Also it pays to print all relevant man pages for utilities involved and keep them in a separate folder that you consult periodically. Sometimes exam questions go into microscopic details that are available only via man pages.

Straight to the point, precise and effective.

I have studied both the Solaris 9 System Administrator Certification and this book for the second test. The System Administrator Cert. book lacked coverage on my subjects.

This book shows the topics in short and easy to understand sections. Lots of exercises with explanations on answers.

If you want to pass the test, studying this book is a must.

If you use the vi editor often, you won't need this book. If, however, you're like me and use it once in a while to make changes in Linux system files, it can come in handy when you can't remember a command or two.

Also, the cover is darn cute! :-)

So basically this is a quick reference to the vi editor, with additional chapters covering all the other text-based editors that are based on vi (like vim, for instance).

Great Vi book for Unix Beginners. It gives great examples to use the command being inquired.

This is a handy little book to have around if you use the "vi" text editor and haven't mastered all the commands. Or if you use a different text editor regularly, but find yourself in a place that has only vi. I have about 5 of the O'Reilly Pocket reference books and find them handy reminders for languages, etc. This book is not intended to "teach" a person how to use vi. It is what it says, a "reference" to jog your memory or possibly find how to cut and paste text or one of the numerous functions systems folks wind up doing at times. I do prefer a different editor but vi is ubiquitous.

This book has a major deficiency as a reference: you can't easily find a specific topic. The book has no index and the table of contents is too high-level to help you find a particular topic (for example, "vi Commands" as a table of contents entry isn't really going to help you locate a particular command).

The level of detail that is presented varies widely throughout the book. For example, Chapter 4 gives multi-sentence descriptions of the substitute command and regular expressions. Chapter 1 lists each command line option with a brief one-sentence description. Chapter 7 lists the vi options with no descriptions (the name of the option is often not self-explanatory--what does "magic" or "beautify" do?). If something is worth listing in this book, at least give it a brief description.

A quibble is with the four chapters on vi clones. It would have been nice if the author briefly described each of the clones and pointed out their strengths and weaknesses. These four chapters occupy over half of the book, so adding an extra overview paragraph to each chapter would not have significantly added to the bulk of the book.

On the positive side, I found the lists of command line options and vi commands useful.

Instead of buying this book, I would recommend searching for the various vi quick reference guides available on the Web for free. Some might argue that I'm expecting too much from a "pocket reference" and that it is intended for experienced users. My view is that the book could have been so much more useful. As it is, I do not feel the cost of the book is justified by its content.

This is the first time I've given any book five stars. That's because this is the best pocket quick reference of VI you're going to find. The information is presented as concisely as it can be and still remain accessible. Other, terser (and, yes, less expensive) quick reference cards for VI are too cryptic to be useful, in my opinion.

If you don't already know VI, try an on-line tutorial (there are plenty) or buy the more complete "Learning VI" book from O'Reilly to get you started. After you've acquired the basics, periodically refer to the Pocket Reference to add yet another "I didn't know VI did that" command to your toolkit.

This is a great book for people who already know that they want to deploy a free open source firewall solution to secure their network. While somewhat dated (e.g. Linux: ipchains and not iptables, OpenBSD: ipf and not pf), the book gives detailed and comprehensive directions for buidling a firewall platform, deploying a firewall and event sheds some light on the security policy development and maintainance such as securing various network services.

The books covers basic security, continues on to choosing the "right OS" (providing an enlightening discussion on Linux vs OpenBSD) and getting the right hardware for the job, and then dives right into building stuff, complete with commands and "cut-and-paste" firewalls rules.

The last part introduces the reader to the basics of intrusion detection and system monitoring, both valuable parts of any firewall setup.

One of the great features of the book is the author's humorous style. I rolled on the floor laughing about "naked penguins" and "hairy sysadmins".

Overall, get the book if you are planning to build the open source firewall solution or even if you believe that security books can be fun to read.

Anton Chuvakin, Ph.D., GCIA ... is a Senior Security Analyst with a major information security company.

This book is VERY well written. It was one of the very best technical books I have ever read. Some of the info is a little dated, but the topics discussed are GREAT history. I personally get tired of security writers dismissing older exploits as they are still being used today. In addition, the majority of the first half of the book is devoted to security background and explanation of the types of major exploits.
This was the first tech book that I have ever read cover to cover. It was that interesting. The authors had a very conversational style that keeps you hooked and entertained.

I HIGHLY recommend it.

This book is awesome. It assumes no prior networking experience and walks you through networking basics as well as basic security issues such as Denial of Service, spoofing, etc. Chapters with complete step-by-step installation instructions for both Linux and OpenBSD Unix are included, so it's very easy for any beginner to build a firewall for their home (or office) network.
Tell people that you've personally built your own firewall using OpenBSD and you'll be guaranteed an approving nod from even the cockiest alpha geek!

As an funny and well-written introduction to firewalls and why they are necessary, as well as a paen to OpenBSD, this book is excellent. As a guide to building one's own using OpenBSD, there are better methods and more up to date instructions on the web. The book's companion website is a mess and has been under construction for months.

Two things are particularly out of date. First, it seems that more effective OpenBSD firewalls are configured as "bridges." This configuration is not mentioned in the book. Second, the book discusses a version of OpenBSD that is several generations old, one that was apparently arranged differently on the distribution CD. Moreover, the key piece of OpenBSD for constructing a firewall, according to instructions in the book, ipf, is apparently going to be removed from future distributions because of licensing problems. (I believe it has already been removed from the lastest OpenBSD distributions on the OpenBSD website but may remain on the 2.9 distribution CD.) Figuring out how to install and configure the latest version of ipfilter will send you on one of those time-consuming webquests. There's no help in the book,

If the website were functional and updated the book, the book's other content (primarily background but useful background), might make this book worthwhile. As things stand now, it is better avoided. (Try a Yahoo! search instead.)

This book is useless to anyone able to use an internet browser. I love the style, but it disguises a useless waste of paper. Two years ago, this would have been a marvelous book. Now you'd be better off flushing your dollars down the tube. If you connect to the internet via DSL, this book won't help. If you connect via a dial-up and want the latest firewall configuration, this book won't help. If you want to know about primitive hacker attacks or where to buy outdated OS CDs, software available in newer versions on the web, this is the book for you. (The book's website, touted on the backcover, in the book, and on the publisher's website, is a stupid mess. It does not contain the information the book says it contains and consists largely of empty pages linked together. Polite questions and requests to get it together go unanswered. Give it a try, and you'll see what I mean.

Some of the basics are still relevant but this book could use some updating since 1997. Also more information on how to figure out how the servers are performing would be nice.

Yes, like the other reviewers I'd like to see a new edition where the examples are based more on things like 36 GB 10k rpm disks instead of 9 GB 7200 rpm disks. The chapters on how the SCSI bus really works, how a disk stores data, what really happens when you use NFS, and how raid works were eye openers for me. Sure some of the topics are a bit out of date but this is a great starting point on your path towards total performance enlightenment.

Great book!! Clear, easy and acurated text!! Great Methodology!! Simple and objective!!

A must have for anyone who needs manage and design unix data centers.

The only problem: This book needs a 2002 update release covering the newest Sun hardware and the most server intensive needs made by web-centric computing.

This is a good reference book, but it really needs to be reqritten to include the latest models of Sun platforms.

The references to the Solaris OS and SPARC machines are of course out of date. Even so, Wong's methodology, analysis of performance factors, and depth of treatment are outstanding. As an Sun-certified educator, consultant, and field engineer, I use this book all the time. I have read it through six or seven times by now, and I still find (or recover) valuable information packed away in the corners. It's indispensable as a methodology reference for scoping systems, although it really should be read cover to cover at least once. Wong's breadth of coverage is absolutely impressive. When I want to show other techs a strategic way to approach system planning, I hand them a copy of this book, first thing. Read this book if you have anything to do with installing or maintaining Sun systems; then ask Brian Wong to please write the update!

I bought this book because I wanted a good understanding of the operating system I'll be working with well into the future. It book covers the Debian system in great depth, more than half of the book is about package management. Once you read it, you'll understand why Debian is so stable.

It starts out with a brief history of Debian, it's concepts and philosophy, then goes on to outline the developer hirearchy, archive structure and the process taken for package movement from sid to the final release. Then moves thru installing Debian and dealing with packages using dpkg, apt and other utilities. There is so much in this subject, I couldn't put the book down for a second. You'll learn how to upgrade your system and software from different sources, tells you what to back up and how to make scripts to 'copy' your installation to another computer and lots of other stuff. I found this section particularly well explained and documented.

The rest covers system log and config files, network interfaces, devices and security. Kernel packages, mixing releases, forums, bug tracker, manual packaging and maintaining your system

This book is not about Linux. It's about Debian with a strong accent on it's package management system. I've only read half of this book so far, but have gained a lot of knowledge, particularly the art of installing the 'latest' software packages and a good understanding on the use of apt-get and aptitude and maintaining a clean system.

I give this book 10 out of 10. If you use Debian, this book is a must-have, along with a good Linux book.

It's a excelent book about debian packaging/administration

I purchased it with debian bible and I can say debian system is infinitely better than the first one

Have been utilizing Linux for +5 years- primarily main-line distros with an "RPM-based" flavor. My continued favorite and primary distro is Mandriva, which I've used solidly through multiple releases. In my quest for options/alternatives I have reviewed, installed and used: Fedora-Red Hat, Knoppix, OpenSuse-Suse, Libranet, Gentoo, and Debian (Sarge). Kept coming back to Mandriva.
However, of late have really committed to opening up and expanding my Linux capabilities and adopting an optional Linux Distro. After much thought and assessment- ideal choice was Debian and it's recent release of Etch. Next step was what "public" reference books were available and recommended. Obvious choice was Kraft's "Debian System".
After acquiring and reading- concurrent with an actual on-going install of Debian Etch my assessments are:

1. Good overall intro and background on Debian: philosophies, intents, goals, and charters.
2. OK background and data on the "Debian-specific" environment aspects. Although, some items are getting a bit dated, and some areas not covered as in-depth as they should be: wireless, consistent install methods, system configuration options, XOrg environments.
3. Kraft goes to great lengths to delve into the "Apt-get" areas of Debian with extensive study of dpkg features. However, little depth is given to the formally Debian-endorsed services of Aptitude (datedness of the book?).
4. Definitely more coverage and specifics on "Sources" management under Debian; with caveats and dangers of "mixed" environments (unstable, external resources..).
5. Much more depth and clarification of Init/start-up uniqueness of Debian; Performance options, and recommended Debian "sensitive" software options for consideration
6. Additional coverage should be given to Kernel aspects, unique module-assistant aspects of Debian, and multi-Kernel environments for those wishing to pursue advanced configuration options.

Overall, a comprehensive and multi-faceted tome on the Debian environnment; which definitely needs some updating, refocusing, and inclusion of new materials. Finally- Debian is now my official "optional" distro and a great choice! A distro which I intend to use and support for a great many years..

I am not a sys admin by profession. My computer at home is running debian testing (which is currently "etch"). If one runs their own *nix computer, they have become a sys admin, like it or not. I would rate myself as a novice sys admin, and mediocre at best.

This book covers the nuts and bolts of the debian system. As other reviewers have mentioned before me, it does not cover how to set-up your apache server, or how to write good bash scripts. It just covers the specific parts of debian which make it unique from other distros. Krafft is not a zealot. He compliments other package systems; for example he is frank in his admiration for the robustness of rpm.

I read this book cover to cover, and it gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to give up on dual booting a microsoft OS, or a more user friendly *nix distro.

It is a good reference book. For example, recently, I filled up a partition. It was my /var partition, and it was related to the apt package system, (most likely my fault, as I'm a poor administrator). So instead of blowing out troublesome sub-directory, (while hoping that I'm not breaking something), I grabbed this book off the shelf, and quickly found the proper solution. It has a detailed table of contents, a decent index, and a long appendix which is divided into six sections.

To conclude, I'm trying to make two points about this book. First, it is still relevant w/the "etch" release. Second, if you're a novice administrator of a debian-based system, this book is very useful.

If you think you are a Debian user, you should read this book. It will show you how to do things the Debian (the right) way. If you are looking for a how-to book, this isn't what you should be reading. And author is clear about it.

For existing Debian users, this is a must. This book can convert you from user to power user, and if you are serious about Debian, read it. After you read it you will often return to it for reference.

If you want to become a Debian user, I would recommend reading a copy of "Hands on Debian Guide" (which is recommended in this book also). Since the website it was on seems to be gone off-line, you can try to contact the author docelic@(nospam)hcoop.net.

"Perl Objects, References & Modules" written by Randal L. Schwartz is an overpriced, botched work that does not meet the quality of the first well-known "llama" book.

Just 220 pages for such complex topics like OOP are simply too less allowing novice programmers to get familiar with. Many provided examples are highly complicated and lacking of good explanation.

Sure, this book discusses advanced topics of Perl and therefore is also dedicated to the more experienced user, but it still is a book for people wanting to learn this great programming language - unfortunately they face a hard time when trying to do so.

Well, Mr. Schwartz stated at the preface of this book that it was mainly written in a bar (with some beer, I guess). And yes, it reads like that...

This book provides exactly what it promises: a clear, concise, and complete explanation of how one uses objects, references, and modules in the Perl programming language. The didactic style does an excellent job of explaining concepts in straightforward terms, and maintains a light, conversational tone so that the reader doesn't fall asleep. For those who have a genuine interest in programming, and who enjoy learning new things, PORM encourages this and plays to it, to good effect. As a second Perl book after Learning Perl, I recommend it without hesitation.

Now for the bad news: this is an old book. The later editions have been renamed "Intermediate Perl", and more directly follows on the heels of Learning Perl. At the time of this writing, I have not read Intermediate Perl and cannot comment on its quality as an update of PORM, but based on a solid foundation like this it would be difficult to go far wrong.

This book attempts something very interesting: not just to describe "how" central aspects of Perl work, but also to understand the process of "how Perl got there". Thus, the book does not serve the "conclusions" right away; it reaches them via a series of experimentations and improvements (in fact, similarly to what is done in other sciences).
To make it interesting (and humorous but realistic at the same time) the book presents a band of "software sailors", who write navigation software. They quickly discover the pleasures of workgroup development; they start reusing software with "eval" (on library files), they then limit unwanted effects with "do", to finally adopt "require" to pull a file only once. Then, after chaos still erupts on name collisions (two different "turn_to_port" routines with the same name, which send one boat into a loop..), the sailors discover "package", and finally, the fleet can proceed with a certain harmony [note: given the structure of the book, "use" will be introduced a lot later, in chapter 12].
This is a very original software lesson; for anyone who reads chapter 2, it will be hard to see the line "package Xyz" and not smile remembering (at least once) the conflicts between Skipper & Gilligan. This is great teaching, as your mind associates a "scenario", not just a "habit", to a programming line.

There are other chapters equally brilliant; more than the "Object" chapters, I liked especially the one on "Subroutine References". It begins explaining how to reference a named subroutine, and it then builds a hash of sub references. Then, it prods us to do the next logical step (with a trick which recurs along the book: "why waste some brain cells to define a name for each subroutine, to only use it to initialize the data structure?"), gently pushing the reader to accept "anonymous" subroutines, code them in the hash structure itself, and enjoy the remarkable simplification of the code that results! The stage is now set to introduce "Callbacks", and then "Closures"; again, with the same method of "one evolution at the time":
a) first a variable is declared to hold the callback, followed by a naked block with a private context and the callback assignment.
b) then the code is simplified with a subroutine encharged to contain the variables on which the closure is done and to return the reference to the anonymous subroutine.
c) last, it shows how the same subroutine can be invoked simultaneously, keeping its own context in every call.
I must say that, after you begin to realize the power of "Closures" (I went back to read "Programming Perl", p 260-262, to fully understand it), you regret that the only example given by the book is so elementary (findFile). Imagine instead, to remain with the sailors theme, a routine which computes a boat trajectory (closing on boat's initial position, velocity, etc), and a main routine instantiating multiple boats and launching them in a race. Multiple automatas in action (with a few lines of code!); this would close the chapter in full glory.

More than once you have the strange feeling that the book was written under a constraint of having less than 200 pages. Examples: it presents a remarkable lesson on Autovivification, but fails to alert against unvoluntary autovivifications (when testing structures for existence).
Or see for, in chapter 2, the section "Packages and Lexicals" whose first line is: "A lexical variable isn't prefixed by the current package because package variables are always global". The statement is not false but it is so awkward at the start a section ("X does not have property Z, because only Y has Z"). Why not to spend a few pages, mentioning the Perl symbol table and on this basis explain concretely the difference between "lexical, global, local"? else, everything remains so abstract.
Still, these are minor defects of an unique remarkable book. The introduction mentions that the material is built on the Stonehenge courses; for all of us without the opportunity to attend them, but able to read, think and experiment, this book is an excellent deal to "see" the Stonehenge people in action.

This book is perfect if you want to expand your perl horizon. It only gets 4 stars because, hey, I can't give everything five stars.

New editions of this book are no longer in the works, as this title is being discontinued. O'Reilly's "Intermediate Perl" by the same authors (Randal L. Schwartz, brian d foy, and Tom Phoenix) is the new edition of this book. The first edition of "Intermediate Perl" was released March 2006. So if you're thinking about purchasing this book, purchase "Intermediate Perl" instead. It includes the same material (albeit updated) by the same authors. Once again, this title has been discontinued.

This book did not favor any one Linux OS over another (good). Most Linux configuration was via commandline (which most will advocate in a Unix environment) and direct editing of conf files. Each chapter has a great balance of common practices, breaking down the common config parameters, then implementing. Overall, a great reference.

This is a very good book on the topic. The author knows what he is talking about, he doesn't skip anything and explains almost everything that should be explained. Although there are some typos and small errors in the book, they are corrected in the errata. Accessible, thorough, well written, well organized, well supported. Definitely worth the money.

Linux in a Windows World by Roderick Smith (O'Reilly) is an excellent aid for anyone trying to work in a heterogeneous environment. It is targeted at administrators who would like to add the flexibility, security and stability of Linux to existing Windows networks. While primarily focused on integrating Linux servers in the enterprise, to add functionality or replace Windows servers, Smith also addresses the addition of Linux workstations and thin clients to a Windows network.

The text begins with a brief discussion of the available options for leveraging Linux in a Windows-dominated environment and when and where such applications are appropriate and effective.
Smith walks you through Samba file and print sharing, authentication with LDAP, Kerberos, NT domains, followed by remote access methods, and a medley of additional server applications for mail, backups and network management. I found the format very accessible; simple and clear enough for those new to Linux, but with sufficient detail to get up-and-running with a basic configuration.

The tone was refreshingly objective. Windows and Linux options were presented in an even-handed way, absent was the Windows bashing that frequently enters Linux literature. I was somewhat disappointed that the book spent so much time on increasingly obsolete NT Domains and so little with Active Directory, but it is understandable as the proprietary nature of Windows necessitates a lag time in the development of interoperable open source technologies.

Overall I found Linux in a Windows World to be an excellent resource for mixed networks. I would consider it a must read for anyone thinking about adding Linux to their Windows network. It covers all the bases, giving the reader an overview of the available options before delving into the most common solutions. I personally found it useful in configuring several servers in my all-Linux network.

This book has well developed details on Linux client configuration for Linux only solutions with some small Windows tidbits thrown in. Given that the scope of this book should be "Linux in a Windows World", I expected more material on connecting Linux to modern Windows infrastructure, especially Active Directory. What coverage that was offered on Windows, e.g. some chapters dedicated to SAMBA, was mostly focused on 10-year older Windows NT era of technologies. I will delve in to some topics to illustrate this.

In Kerberos (Chapter 9), more than 80% of the coverage is about Linux Kerberos solutions and client configuration. There is a measly 2 pages out of 30 on Windows client configuration. In one area (page 216), the author states that Kerberos to Kerberos cross-realm trust to Active Directory would beyond the scope of this book, but I seem to recall that this information took up roughly 5 pages of text in Kerberos, The Definitive Guide by Jason Garman. There is zero coverage on how to configure Linux to use Active Directory KDC, which is something done in about two pages from the same aforementioned book. I'm wondering where's the "Windows World" involved in this as overall coverage is again for Linux to Linux.

For the topic of LDAP (Chapter 8), the coverage is again about configuring Linux clients to use OpenLDAP for authentication. Even within the scope of Linux-to-Linux the information was limited (there's less than adequate coverage about how lack of caching can cause serious problems, or how to use things like SASL for Kerberized authentication of LDAP). There is no mention of using Active Directory LDAP in this chapter for Linux clients. There was some coverage of Windows client configuration through pGina. However, I would prefer to see Windows solutions as this is suppose to be about a "Windows World" book, but get Linux-to-Linux solutions and with pGina, a Windows-to-Linux solution.

On the topic of DNS and DHCP (Chapter 15), only Linux solutions are covered, so there is no information on using Linux with Windows DHCP and DNS backends. In the scope of Linux DHCP, the information is very limited, and there is no information on how to assign IP addresses based on computer names, which is a feature that even Windows DHCP doesn't support. Windows clients spit out names with an appended "0" character to the DHCP server, which could be use for further configuration of services. In the scope of Linux DNS, there is no information about features needed in BIND to make it interoperable with Windows Active Directory, or even Linux Kerberos solutions for that matter. One needs Dynamic DNS, support for SRV records, and in particular for Active Direcotry, one needs support for underscore characters "_", which I heard is a compile time option for BIND9. Additionally, Microsoft has a proprietary WINS record for legacy support that is not supported by BIND. Both Microsoft certification publications and "DNS and BIND" by Albitz and Liu (O'Reilly) offer solution scenarios for this. None of this important essential information was presented, as the predominant focus appears to be Linux-to-Linux.

On the topic of NTP services (Chapter 15), the information is applicable for older Windows 9X/ME/NT systems that used a NetBIOS to locate a non-NTP service from Windows NT. In Windows XP/2003 that is so ancient history and Windows has full support for NTP client and services through the w32tm command. This is completely absent from from the presentation and details on this topic. Also surprising is no mention of why time sychronization is vital to either any Kerberos solutions, including Active Directory; any clients authentication to a Kerberos KDC should sychronize to the clock on that same server, or else users will not be able to log on if their clocks are more than 5 minutes off.

When covering mail technologies (Chapter 13), most of the documentation is an overview of mail technology and a exploration of Linux solutions with sendmail and postfix, which is very good presentation of those technologies. Microsoft Excahnge Server gets an honorable mention of less than 2 pages out of 51 pages. I would have appreciated more scenarios on how to integrate Exchange including for a variety of technologies, and would also have been interested in Windows clients that would hook into Linux solutions. There's no mention that that modern versions of Exchange are dependent on Active Directory -- something of a headache for Linux admins, but important consideration for planning the infrastructure. The Windows interoperability in this area like other chapters was quite lacking.

There are four chapters in Part II "Sharing Files and Printers" dedicated to SAMBA and related technologies like CUPS integration. The coverage here is predominantly focused on 10-year old Windows NT era technologies. One chapter is even dedicated to NetBIOS Network, something even Windows admins wish would have never existed. I don't know but I would hope that interoperability would cover modern technologies that are at least applicable within the last three years (after all, Windows 2003 is about 3 years old now). There only mention of Active Directory, and NONE of the richness found in where Linux boxes can be added to Active Directory domain, authenticate through ActiveDirectory via windbindd (with support for caching), and Windows account sid (security id) to user id (uid) and group id (gid) mapping with LDAP Unix schema support with either SFU 3.5 or AD4Unix in Active Directory (( NOTE: This can be done through SAMBA 3.0.20 and above, but authors haven't a clue )). The interoperability here is for historical network scenarios that is well covered in existing published (and online free) books. I would expect that a book written in this time would offer appicable Windows interoperability.

In the scope of printing through CUPS (Chapter 4), there's no mention that I can tell of Windows support for IPP, the same technology that CUPS uses. Linux clients can connect directly to Windows IPP printer without even touching SAMBA (just have to use port 80 in the URL as Microsoft implemented their solution before the RFC was finalized). Some redeeming qualities of this section was how to do free PDF-Gernation printer share on Linux, and also how to implement Microsoft RPC facility (through SAMBA) for auto-insstallation of printer drivers on Windows clients.

Overall, given that the focus is predominantly Linux for Linux solutions, this book maybe should be called "Linux in a Linux World". If you need an overview of Linux technologies and solutions, then this is a decent book, but if you want modern real-world details on interoperability to Windows, then there are far better books in this space.

Working several years as a certified Windows Administrator, I find it strange to have a complete chapter soley dedicated to the topic of NetBIOS. Who uses NetBIOS? I looked further into the book, and the all SAMBA material seems to be a rehash older and overdocumented SAMBA 2.0 docs...

I looked at another section and it seems that Windows NT 4 time was covered (maybe accidently through author's misunderstanding of Windows time?) and w32time service. The later uses the NTP time standard, while older Windows NT 4 time relies on NetBIOS... Hmmm... Maybe that's the reason for a NetBIOS chapter.

I was hoping for something more to deal with Active Directory and modern systems, but learn interoperability to stuff you can only buy at the swap-meet or flea-market.

I didn't cover any other chapters, as they seem to focus on Linux-to-Linux interoperability. Yes, I know, but it is true, Windows coverage in the other sections is less than 5% - 10%.

So bottom line, most of book is Linux with honoroble mention here and there of Windows, the chapters fully focused on Windows interoperability are rehash of SAMBA 2.0 and how to hook into end-of-life Windows NT 4. And you get a whole chapter on NetBIOS? Shall we *cough* look for other books?

Great price good ship and condition would order again.

I am an Oracle Database Administrator but my knowledge of Linux was very weak. I wanted to get the LPIC certification so that I could expand my knowledge and be able to better communicate with our System Administrators and Network Administrators.

This book covered topics in a way that a person with no experience with Linux could understand (you may need some computer background). The software included was a bonus for me. The book also include a pull out summary sheet of the topics and commands learned (great for studying).

In addition to this book, I do recommend that you set up a computer where you can install and practice what you learn. I also recommend that you but additional self testing software. The combination of the three should guarantee that you pass the LPIC exam and have an honest understanding of what you have learned.

The book focuses on Red Hat, RPM, VI, and the command line to the exclusion of the more recent utilities, changes, and tools (such as DHCP) which are now the mainstay of the Linux Administrator. If it helps cram for the LPIC I wouldn't take it -- not only because it would be unnecessarily difficult, but also because it is useless. It would be like taking a trivia test for Linux instead of learning how to become a competent administrator.

This book was quite thorough in its coverage of the material, and the practice questions were superb (although it would have been nice if there were more of them on the CD). I had no trouble setting up the examsim software on my Linux box, so they must have fixed that problem.

The only thing I would complain about is that parts of the chapter on networking were a tad difficult to understand, and I had to find supplemental online resources.

In my opinion, you should be an experienced Linux user before buying this book. It is not worded for people who don't already understand Linux. It may be great for testing, but it's not for trying to learn Linux from scratch.